Property owners in Hellertown will be paying more in taxes in 2018 if a preliminary budget approved for advertisement by a 7-0 borough council vote Monday night is ultimately adopted.
The $4 million-plus preliminary budget calls for a .5 mill property tax increase, which would result in a general purpose millage rate of 19.25 mills in addition to the borough fire tax–which is 1.5 mills–for a total millage rate of 20.75 mills.
One mill equals $100 in taxes on a house assessed at $100,000, so the half mill increase would mean a $50 per year property tax increase for a borough homeowner whose property is assessed at that amount.
Councilman James Hill voted against the tax increase.
Hellertown borough already has one of the highest millage rates in Northampton County.
According to Lehigh Valley Planning Commission millage rate statistics from 2015, the only other municipality in the county with a higher millage rate is the city of Easton.
In addition to the tax increase, the preliminary borough budget for 2018 includes a reduction in the number of full-time police officers, as well as cuts to park maintenance and an increase in the business registration fee.
Council president Tom Rieger stressed that the two full-time police officer positions being cut from the budget are because of the loss of a gaming grant that previously funded them. The shifts now worked by those officers will be covered by part-timers, so there will be no reduction in overall police coverage, he said.
Borough manager Cathy Hartranft said recycling fees will also increase $10 per household in 2018 because bids for the borough’s recycling contract came in “considerably higher” this year.
Sam Augustine of J.P. Mascaro was at the meeting and explained that his company’s bid increased because operational costs have gone up and as a result of a CDL shortage, which means truck drivers are fetching higher wages.
The value of recyclable materials has also dropped in the past year, Augustine said.
Council ultimately voted 7-0 to award a three-year contract worth a little more than $300,000 to Mascaro.
Augustine said that under that contract, each household will pay a little over $3 per month, or $1.50 per recycling pickup.
He also thanked the borough for its business.
Rieger told Augustine that problems with late pickups that once plagued Mascaro and resulted in complaints from borough residents largely seem to have been resolved.
The next borough council meeting will be held Monday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. at Hellertown Borough Hall.
